From the pages ofSublette ExaminerVolume 6, Number 50 - March 8, 2007brought to you online by Pinedale Online

Reporter’s Notes

Wyoming Game and Fish

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission will hold its next meeting on March 15 and 16 at the agency’s Casper regional office. Agenda items include an overview of the Wyoming Legislature’s action on wildlife bills and an update on chronic wasting disease surveillance and research.

The commission will also receive a presentation on the bison and elk management plan and environmental impact statement for the Jackson area.

The meeting begins at 9:15 p.m. March 15 and 8 a.m. March 16 at the Casper WG&F office, 3030 Energy Lane.

Bear, lion and wolf safety

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will host a “Staying Safe in Bear, Lion and Wolf Country” seminar in Pinedale on Wednesday, March 21 at the Pinedale Library (6:30-9:30 p.m.).

The purpose of the seminar is to increase awareness and understanding of bears, mountain lions and wolves by providing participants with information and tools they can use to prevent conflicts and avoid dangerous encounters.

Presentations will feature behavior and biology, life history, population status and movements, proper food storage, safety and legal issues. The experienced large predator biologist conducting the seminar will also address what to do in an encounter situation and the most current information on the use of bear spray.

Wolf comment

The public comment period on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf-delisting proposal was extended 30 days and will now end on May 9. See http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov for further information.

Visibility

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division hosts a Web site that brings live air quality data and images from the state’s Visibility Monitoring Network. You can find it online at www.wyvisnet.com. Monitoring sites around the state, including those at Boulder, Daniel and the Jonah area, provide data and images that are updated every 15 minutes.

WYVISNET.com also provides tools to better understand air quality and visibility in Wyoming. Image galleries from state and federal sites show examples of good and poor visibility and unique events. The Air Quality Info page provides more detailed information about various air quality topics. Links guide users to other web cams, air quality sites and agencies around the nation.

Green River Valley Cattlemen’s Association

The GRVCA passed several resolutions at its annual convention last weekend. The association requested that the Bureau of Land Management make revisions to its draft resource management plan to provide for no-net-loss of animal unit months, grazing practice adjustments are justified only when called for by monitoring, no new wild and scenic river designations should be made, no provisions to protect wolves or grizzly bears should be included, feedgrounds should remain open and seasons of use for permittees should not be based on the agency’s perception of brucellosis transmission risks but should be addressed in individual herd plans.

The cattlemen also addressed the Pinedale Anticline supplemental environmental impact statement, commenting that all impacts to permittees should be mitigated, any mitigation fund should have a livestock-grazing component, and permittees should be involved from the beginning of mitigation projects.

Governor signs bill banning open containers

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed the open container bill into law. Beginning July 1, no person will be allowed to have an open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle.

The signing marked the end of a decade-long struggle for the bill’s sponsor, Senator Tony Ross of Cheyenne.

“During over 10 years of working this bill, there were times where I never thought I’d see this day.” Ross said in a press release. “Really, any good work that is ever accomplished in this Legislature is not by one person alone. It takes a lot of people.”

Freudenthal agreed that passage of the open-container bill was a team effort.

“I am delighted to be governor at the time the Legislature adopted this,” he said. “This has been something that a lot of people have worked on, and I think Senator Ross is correct to recognize the immense number of people in the state who, over the years, have refused to accept defeat on this issue, and it is my honor to be able to sign that bill today.”

The final version of the open container bill passed the House on a 52-7 vote and the Senate by a 23-6 margin.